Count One To A Lifetime (And Then Do It Again)
by Artemis08Luna
Summary: Rebekah and Elena were meant for each other. Rebekah was sure of that. So why were they always at each other's throats? That's the question Rebekah keeps asking herself.


_"What the hell was that all about?" Rebekah demanded as soon as the front door was shut._

 _Elena was tired; she didn't want to deal with whatever she was talking about. "I don't know," she just supplied, sluggishly let her legs lead her to the coach, where she just crashed._

 _Rebekah was having none of it. Using her superhuman speed, she was all a blue as she ran across the room in a blink of an eye and forced Elena on a sitting position._

 _"Hey!" Elena's eyes snapped open to glare. "What the hell?!"_

 _Under a lot of stress, anger and need for attention, Rebekah's eyes flashed red with dark veins snaking down her cheeks for a second, causing two things happen: Elena jerked from Rebekah's touch as Rebekah quickly backed away._

 _Rebekah closed her eyes to concentrate. After making sure her vampire visage was totally gone, she stomped her foot lightly, just enough to make her frustration obvious._

 _"Oh, Rebekah," Elena said gently, approaching the Original cautiously. When she absolutely certain Rebekah wasn't going to do anything else rash, she slowly encased her arms around Rebekah. The blonde didn't move, just stood there completely still._

 _"This isn't working," Rebekah breathed._

 _"Sorry," Elena mumbled apologetically, letting go of Rebekah, completely missing the point._

 _"No, not that," Rebekah said, letting out a laugh. "Us. We. You and I. Together. It's not working."_

 _Elena took a step back, those doe eyes widening as they filled with tears. "What... What are you talking about?"_

 _Rebekah put her hand against the wall despite not needing to. She just wanted to push her weight against something because, even though she knew she wasn't, she felt like she was going to fall over._

 _Rebekah had known. She'd been closely watching their relationship. At first, she and Elena blossomed into what seemed like the perfect relationship, contrasting personalities that fit together like two halves of a while. Then the honeymoon stage was over, and everything about them crumbled just as quickly sand did. They were always arguing, always jealous, always suspicious, always crying... This wasn't healthy, and Rebekah knew unhealthy. She'd had over a thousand years for relationships; each one held the promise of an eternity yet always crashed on the way to it._

 _But those relationships were all sabotaged by Nik._

 _This one was different._

 _They crashed it all by themselves, and only now was Rebekah beginning to truly understand it._

 _"Rebekah, I..." Elena dared took a step closer toward Rebekah. Elena didn't even bother anymore, she let the tears fall freely and wrap Rebekah in another embrace. "I love you."_

 _Rebekah returned the hug, shutting her eyes. "I know you do. I love you, too. But should this continue, Elena... We're just not good for each other."_

 _Elena's hold on Rebekah tightened and her sobbing become more prominent. The way her nails dug into her clothes, Rebekah knew Elena knew this too, but was too stubborn to admit it._

 _Rebekah knew she wasn't being too harsh, but still harsh enough. The poor girl had had her heart broken so many times by the Salvatore brothers and Matt, and here she was, adding her own name to that list._

 _"I love you."_

 _Rebekah didn't reply this time. She just held Elena until the human fell asleep._

* * *

"Bekah!" Her brother shouted, immediately pulling her out of her reverie with a disgruntled look on her face.

She grabbed her shoe and threw it in the general direction of Kol. She didn't bother aiming it perfectly because, like always, Kol just ducked out of the way.

"Thinking about Elena again are we?" Kol teased with just a hint of a smirk.

Truth is Rebekah didn't go looking for another relationship after Elena. Out of the lovers she's had in a span of a millenium, it was only Elena who made her understand the meaning of _true love_. It was Elena who made her heart flutter like a hummingbird's. It was Elena who made her feel _complete_. Despite their previous problems, at the end of the day, they were in each other's arms without a care in the world.

Rebekah made a rash decision, and everyday, she wished she could take it all back.

But she couldn't.

It's been over decades. Probably over a century. Rebekah wasn't sure. She lost interest in keeping track.

She just sighed as her reply.

"I miss her too." Rebekah could see the tiny glint of sadness in his eyes.

Kol wasn't as tough as he'd led on. Just like Nik, he had the exterior of tough steel and the heart of delicate glass. He loved Elena, almost like he loved Rebekah, another little sister to adore and annoy.

Rebekah didn't mean to, but she just scoffed and lightly glare at him. "Oh please. You mean you miss your little boy toy."

"Hey, I really did love Jeremy the way you loved Elena. What we had with them was truly once in a lifetime but, Beks, that lifetime is over and it's time to start a new one."

Kol abruptly left before she was even given the chance to respond, much less comprehend what he said.

That lifetime with Elena was long over, she knew that, but she wasn't ready to start another one just yet.

"She still isn't coming down yet?" She heard her other brother, Nik, ask, presumably to Kol.

"She isn't even dressed!"

"Rebekah, we're leaving in five minutes with or without you!" Nik yelled, even though it was totally unnecessary.

She pushed herself off the chair. Well, let's get this over with.

* * *

"You dragged me all this way to watch a play?"

"You used to like it," Nik said simply, sipping on his wine.

"Everyone grows out of what they love eventually, Nik. I did."

"Not with Elena."

That shut her up as easily as a slap to her face or a dagger to her heart. She leaned back against her seat and just silently let her eyes on the characters on the stage without actually paying attention to the play she knew by heart.

When her brain was turned back on after what seemed like hours of thinking, she found herself gasping at one of the actors on stage.

Was... Was that Elena?

Rebekah was too stunned, so attuned to watching the actress—Elena—on stage that she didn't hear Kol ask, "Was this a good idea?"

She didn't hear Klaus reply, "We'll see."

* * *

As soon as the curtains hit the ground, Rebekah had already been on her feet, ready to dash to behind those curtains and... well, she hadn't actually made up her mind on what she'll do exactly. It was either kiss Elena senseless or yell at her for _being alive all this time_ , or maybe both.

Neither Kol nor Klaus didn't even stop her.

She smiled a little when she heard Kol say under his breath, "Go get your girl."

* * *

When she was all but a breeze to those she passed, her mind couldn't help but _race_ at all these possibilities.

Jeremy had long died from old age in Kol's arms, a tragic thing to watch because Jeremy had suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

But Elena. She never really did know what happened to her former lover. When she walked out that door that night, that was the last time she saw her. She didn't want to see her again nor think about her again. She got so lost that she became so out of it. The breakup was the most painful one because she really did love Elena. It wasn't a phase or just someone to string along; what she felt for Elena was genuine and pure.

So to combat her emotions, she switched off her humanity and moved to Africa for the last decades until Elijah found her and brought her to Nik and Kol and the rest was history.

Because of her wild behavior, she never really did find out if she died or if someone had given her vampire blood.

Whatever the case, it was clearly the latter and she had to set things right with the one person she truly believed to be her soulmate.

You know what they say.

Better late than never.

* * *

"Elena," she breathed as soon as she found the brunette with her back to her. Even from behind, she was so perfect that it rendered her motionless.

The cast and crew around her moved around in hectic business that they didn't really bother that an audience member is backstage.

She swallowed hard and she could practically feel the quick beating of her own heart. It took her some time to get her legs moving again, but only one step at a time. She was still astounded by the absurdity of it all that after so many years, Elena was just within reach.

"Elena," she said again, louder this time but didn't shout. She didn't need to. Elena was a vampire. Surely, she'd hear her.

But the brunette didn't turn. She just went about her business packing up her belongings into her duffle.

"Elena!" She yelled now.

The brunette still didn't hear her.

Okay, this was getting a little bit ridiculous.

When she was inches away from Elena, she slowly reached out to tap her on the shoulder.

Elena turned around. Tired brown eyes lit up and crinkled around the sides as she smiled the bright big smile that made Rebekah's world slow down for a moment.

"Hey!" She greeted happily.

"Hi," Rebekah said back, lacking the enthusiasm.

"Look, I'd love to stay and chat but I'm late for a thing tonight," Elena said, grabbing her duffle and walked hurriedly past Rebekah.

Why was she avoiding Rebekah? It's been years and she was just going to ignore the fact that Rebekah was there? Did she hate Rebekah? Had she forgotten? Rebekah was having none of it. She walked along the side of Elena. "Oh I think we have a lot of things to _chat_ about. Where were you these past few years?"

Elena's face scrunched into confusion. "Uh... College...? The acting schools here in London are tougher than I thought."

"Elena, wait." Rebekah gently grabbed her wrist.

Elena stopped dead in her tracks and twisted her wrist out of Rebekah's hold.

"I'm sorry, miss. I think you have me confused for someone else. I'm Madison." She then turned on her heel and ran towards the exit.

Rebekah didn't even bother following Elena because _apparently, she wasn't even Elena_.

* * *

Elena moved on.

She found a man, fell in love and had a family.

She had children.

 _She had a family and that was her doppelgänger._

She moved on.

* * *

She didn't want to see the faces of Kol and Klaus. If she did, she'd probably claw them out and feed them to the wolves.

She was already fine. She had her humanity back on and she was on the verge of forgetting Elena. Okay, maybe not forget Elena, but... she was just fine okay?! She was coping in her own way and she didn't need her brothers stuffing their noses into her business.

False hope and true revelations of the past hurt more than assumptions.

She wanted to go back to assumptions.

Assuming what happened to Elena was way easier than facing the truth _because the truth sucked_.

She didn't know where her heels had gone; she kicked them off somewhere in the theater before blurring away to a park bench somewhere in the city. It's been hours since then.

She didn't even care it was raining. In fact, she invited it. The weather matched her mood so perfectly that it made her feel a little calmer.

Her peaceful night was suddenly interrupted when someone took a seat beside her, holding an umbrella over her and whoever it was that sat.

Of course. What were the odds.

"I'm sorry I was rude back there," Madison said softly but loud enough for a human to pick up with all this rain. "I was just really in a hurry and—"

"No harm done. Don't worry about it," Rebekah said immediately. She didn't know if she liked the company or preferred to be alone, but she wasn't really having a total meltdown so she could deal.

"Sorry," Madison said. Even in the dim light, Rebekah could see she was blushing a little. It made her heart skip a beat because this girl had Elena's face.

They sat in silence for a while, with Madison just holding that umbrella over them.

"Why are you here?" Rebekah asked. "Why were you such in a rush?"

Madison bit her lip, as if contemplating. "I... My friends set me up on a blind date."

Rebekah's lips twitched upward. She couldn't help it, but it strongly reminded her of Caroline and Bonnie.

"Was your date rude?"

"I think so because she stood me up."

"Sorry about that."

Madison shrugged. "Probably just wasn't meant to be."

Rebekah's head tilted. She thought about what Kol said earlier, about her lifetime with Elena being over. Maybe this was it. Maybe this was her shot at redemption; her shot at starting that new life he was talking about.

"Hey, how about I'll treat you to dinner? Just a formality after your date rudely stood you up."

Madison's eyes widened. "Oh wow, uh... Now?"

Rebekah allowed a wide smile.

"But you're kind of... soaking wet."

She was about to respond when she found a quick figure blur near the lamp post in the distance and then away. There was a bag left slumped against the post.

So her idiot brothers really did plan this.

She grinned wider with her teeth showing. "I'll handle that."

"O-Okay. You know, I think I'd like to know the name of my date," Madison said shyly.

"Let's save that for the actual date, shall we? I need to leave some of myself mysterious for the time being."

Madison giggled. It was an adorable laugh that crinkled her eyes, wrinkled her nose and showed her teeth, before she brought her hand up in embarrassment to cover her mouth. It was the first thing she did that didn't remind her of Elena. Elena's laugh was throaty and loud and infectious. Madison's was feminine and tamed and made you want to shut up and just watch her.

This looked like a wonderful beginning to a new lifetime.

She let herself breathe in deeply, savoring the smell of the rain because this is the scent that will now be her permanent reminder of a new start. She glanced to her side and found Madison fidgeting in nervousness. She gave the girl an encouraging smile and said, "Your performance was astounding, by the way."

* * *

 _Anyway, thank you for reading! Feel free to leave a review._


End file.
